RustDesk vs AnyDesk vs TeamViewer: Remote Desktop for a Small Business
If you’re supporting a handful of office PCs, client machines, or remote employees, you need a way to jump onto a screen and take control — the question is whether you pay a SaaS vendor per seat for that, or run the relay server yourself. RustDesk is the odd one out here: it’s the only one of the three built to be self-hosted, which changes both the cost math and who’s holding your session data.
Search intent
Someone searching “RustDesk vs AnyDesk vs TeamViewer” is an IT admin or small-business owner picking a remote-support tool, weighing a self-hosted RustDesk server against paying for a hosted AnyDesk or TeamViewer subscription.
Quick take
- Want to avoid recurring per-seat fees and don’t mind running a small server: RustDesk, self-hosted
- Want a hosted tool with polish and support, moderate budget: AnyDesk
- Need the most mature enterprise features (mobile device management, session recording, compliance docs) and budget isn’t the constraint: TeamViewer
The three options
RustDesk is open-source (client and self-hosted server under AGPL/GPL) remote desktop software written in Rust. You can run the relay/rendezvous server yourself for free — RustDesk’s client connects through it — with no per-seat license required for basic use. If you’d rather not manage the server yourself, RustDesk also sells hosted “Server Pro” plans that add centralized device/user management, 2FA, a web console, and SSO (OIDC/LDAP) on top of the same self-hosting model.
AnyDesk is a hosted, closed-source commercial tool known for a lightweight client and low-latency connections (it markets its own “DeskRT” codec for this). There’s a free tier for personal, non-commercial use, but any business use requires a paid plan — AnyDesk’s licensing actively distinguishes commercial from personal use and will flag accounts it suspects are being used commercially on a free/personal license.
TeamViewer is the longest-established of the three and the most feature-complete for enterprise IT: mobile device management, asset management, endpoint protection, and detailed session reporting are all available as add-ons or bundled into higher tiers. That maturity comes at the highest price point of the three, and like AnyDesk it aggressively distinguishes personal from commercial use on its free tier.
Cost compared (2026)
| RustDesk (self-hosted) | AnyDesk | TeamViewer | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Full self-hosted server, open source, community support | Personal/non-commercial only | Personal/non-commercial only |
| Entry paid tier | Server Pro Individual: $11.88/mo (billed annually) — 1 login user, 20 managed devices, unlimited concurrent connections, 2FA, web console | Solo: ~$14.90/mo (billed annually) — 1 user, 1 device | Remote Access: ~$24.90/mo (billed annually) — 1 user, limited devices |
| Small-team tier | Basic: $23.88/mo (billed annually) — 10 login users, 100 managed devices, SSO (OIDC), LDAP | Standard: ~$39.92/mo annualized — up to 20 users, 500 devices | Business: ~$50.90/mo — up to 200 managed devices, unlimited connections |
| Hosting | You run the server (or pay RustDesk for managed Server Pro) | Vendor-hosted, no self-host option for the relay | Vendor-hosted, no self-host option for the relay |
RustDesk’s own pricing page confirms the exact self-hosting tiers above. AnyDesk and TeamViewer don’t publish itemized pricing pages that are easy to link directly (both render pricing via JavaScript and TeamViewer’s Business/Premium tiers are quoted differently across resellers) — the AnyDesk and TeamViewer figures above are pulled from third-party pricing trackers current as of mid-2026, not confirmed directly against anydesk.com or teamviewer.com’s own checkout flow. Treat them as directional, and re-verify exact current pricing before budgeting a purchase.
Self-hosting tradeoffs
Running RustDesk’s relay server yourself means your session traffic (or at least the rendezvous/signaling layer, depending on network path) goes through hardware you control rather than a third-party vendor’s infrastructure — the same data-ownership argument as Tailscale for remote access or WireGuard/OpenVPN vs. Tailscale. The tradeoff is the same too: you’re responsible for keeping that server patched, backed up, and reachable, and you lose the polish of a vendor support line if something breaks. A mini PC or a small VM is more than enough hardware for a self-hosted RustDesk server at small-office scale.
Which one should you actually pick?
- Comfortable running a small server and want to avoid recurring per-seat SaaS fees long-term: RustDesk, self-hosted — the free/community server handles basic remote-support needs, and Server Pro’s $11.88/mo entry tier is still well under AnyDesk’s or TeamViewer’s cheapest paid plan if you want centralized management.
- Want a hosted tool with a known vendor to call and don’t want to run any infrastructure: AnyDesk — generally the mid-price option of the two commercial tools.
- Need enterprise IT features (MDM, endpoint protection, detailed compliance reporting) and have the budget: TeamViewer.
- Already run other self-hosted remote-access tooling: pair a self-hosted RustDesk server with your existing reverse proxy setup to put its web console behind HTTPS on your own domain.
VPS/hosting referral placeholder — swap for a real hosting/VPS affiliate link once a program is confirmed, for readers who want to self-host RustDesk’s server on a cheap VPS rather than existing homelab hardware.
Bottom line
If avoiding recurring per-seat costs matters more than vendor polish and you’re already comfortable running small self-hosted services, RustDesk is the clear pick — its Server Pro tier undercuts both AnyDesk and TeamViewer’s entry pricing while giving you the option to run the whole thing yourself for free. If you’d rather pay for a fully hosted, fully supported tool and don’t want any server to maintain, AnyDesk is the more budget-friendly of the two commercial options, with TeamViewer reserved for teams that specifically need its deeper enterprise feature set.